Liquid fuel burner



E. A. KASSULKER LIQUID FUEL BURNER Filed Jan. 29,

May 21, 1957 LIQUID FUEL BURNER Edward A. Kassulker, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application January 29, 1952, Serial No. 268,803

2' Claims. (Cl. 158-91) This invention relates to the burning ofcombustible liquid fuels such as hydrocarbons and has particularapplication to the burning of waste and crude oil products containing inmany instances, diificultly combustible materials, sludge,non-combustible solid and liquid materials and materials which may bedissolved or suspended therein.

Heretofcre to my knowledge, it has been difficult to burn for heating orother purposes, wasteoils obtained as for example from automotive crankcases. as well as crude oils often containing tars, sludge and somenoncombustible materials. Most liquidfuel burners become clogged andfail to adequately vaporize the lessvolatile combustible ingredientswith the result that an exceedingly low efficiency of combustion isobtained through the use of such devices. Free passage of solidparticles and facilities for readily cleaningout the burner structureare requisites to the provision of a highly satisfactory burner of theclass described.

It is an object of my invention to provide a comparatively simple buthighly efficient burner device for successfully burning waste oils andother combustible liquid fuels containing non-combustible ingredients,sludge and solid particles and the other constituents previouslyreferredto.

A further object of a burner device of the class described wherein thewaste or crude fuel supply is initially conducted through a combinedvaporizing and fueldistributing medium or conduit subjected to heatlargely through radiation from the subsequent combustion of vapormixtures and wherein selective discharge of vapors from the fuelingredients of higher volatility is initially obtained from said conduitwith subsequent delivery of' the less volatile ingredients andnon-combustible and solid constituents in a stream flowed to acollection and vaporizing surface which may constitute the bottom of theburner chamber or housing. I

Another object is the provision'of burner apparatus of the typedescribed wherein the close cooperation of said combined vaporizing andfuel-distributingconduit with efficient primary and secondary fuelmixing media produces an exceedingly hot combustion with the attendantfunction of substantially complete vaporization of all combustibleconstituents through radiation of heat.

Still another obiectis the provision in structure of the class describedof primary and secondary fuel vapor oxidizing media which determines thearea of combustion and through its inherent structure and relation withthe burner chamber produces spreading and dispersion of the fuel vaporswith subsequent recongregation thereof followed by a secondary admixingand subsequent combustion.

Another object is the provision of a simple, inexpensive and highlyefficient method of burning Waste oil products and crudehydrocarbons ofthe type described, wherein incombustible residue from the fuel will notinterfere with the trouble-free operation of the burner foraco'mparatively long period of time and in which ultimate ited StatesPatent ice accumulations of incombustible material may be cleaned andremoved from the burner with a minimum of eifort.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similarparts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of my liquid fuel burner with some of theparts thereof shown in full;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the burner shown in Fig. 1 with a portion of theforaminous top cut away to show the interior thereof;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the form of fuel burner shown in Fig.1 taken on the line 3-3;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of another form of my liquid fuel burnerwith some of the parts thereof in full and some in section;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal. section of the form of liquid fuel burned inFig. 4 taken on the lines 5-5.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows a verticalsection of one form of my liquid fuel burner Which may be equipped witha conventional outer casing 11 and an inner heat-exchanging casing ii.The inner casing 13. in the form shown is circular in shape and isclosed at the removable top 12 and supplied with an intermediate annularsheet 13 which divides the inner portion into a combustion chamberindicated generally at C and a heat-exchange chamber indicated at H. Theannular plate 13 has an upstanding pipe or tube 14 which extends nearthe top 12 but not so close thereto a'sto shut off the circulation andwithdrawal of combustion gases coming upwardly from the combustionchamber C to the heat-exchange chamber H. Communicating with theheat-exchange chamber at a lower portion thereof is the outlet pipe orchimney 15 which extends upwardly and discharges the exhaust gases tothe atmosphere in the ordinary manner. A damper 16 may be situatedwithin the pipe 15 so as to control the rate of withdrawal of exhaustgases. The outer shell 10 may be equipped with a removable foraminoustop 17. Air or other fluid to be heated may be circulated through bottomopenings between legs iii on the outer shell 10 and .in contact with thecasing 11 of the stove proper, from whence the heated fluid willcirculate upwardly through the fo raminous openings in the top 17. Atthe bottom of inner shell or casing 11 is fuel receiving member R which,in the form shown in Fig. 1 is a circular plate 19 with upstandingflanged edgesZll;

Disposed in spaced relation with the surface of the fuel receiving,member 19 are upstanding air supply tubes which constitute a media foradmixing combustion supporting gas with the vapors of liquid fuelarising in the combustion chamber C. The air supply media in the formshown consist of upstanding air supply tubes 21 which arearranged in acircular fashion as shown in Fig. 3 about a larger centrally disposedair supply tube 22 the outer end of which extends for a greater distancethan the ends of smaller air supply tubes 21. Adjacent the ends of theair supply tubes 21 and 22 are air discharge areas which have restrictedopenings such as holes 23 in tubes 21 and holes 24 in air supply tube22. It is understood, of course, that all the air supply tubescommunicate with atmospheric air and in the form shown in Fig. 1 arefixed to the'fuel receiving member R which is also the bottom of thecombustion chamber C. At the other extremities of the air supply tubesare positioned flame spreading and vapor mixingmeans such as plates oriiame Spreaders seen in the top view of Fig. 3. Air furnished to the airsupply tubes may enter between legs 18 of the outer shell of my stoveand progress through openings 27 which, for convenience, may be arrangedcircularly so that an annular ring 28 having corresponding openings 29may be circularly moved so as to bring the holes 29 in register or outof register with the holes 27. Annular ring 28 may thus be manuallycontrolled through handle 2%.

Disposed within the combustion chamber C and overlying the fuelreceiving bottom member R is a fuel distributing and. vaporizing memberV which is considerably smaller than the fuel receiving member R andconstitutes a conduit'30 attached to supply line 31 having a fuelcontrol such as valve 32 interposed therein. Aligned with thelongitudinal disposition of the conduit 30 is a removable element 33which is adapted to be taken off for cleaning of the conduit 30 andreplaced subsequently thereto. The conduit 3% may be equipped withopenings 34 through which the more easily vaporized liquids can escapein the form of a combustible gas. At the end of the conduit 36 is adischarge 35 which is unrestricted in nature so as not to prevent acleaning instrument from projecting the entire length of conduit 30. Iprefer to arrange my fuel distributing and vaporizing member V in such amanner that the area beyond the unrestricted discharge 35 will be freefor the projection of a tool during the cleaning thereof. Thus theentire element V is disposed slightly to one side of the radial positionso as not to be aligned with the air supply tube 22.

Another form of my invention is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 in which the airsupply media and fuel distributing and vaporizing member cooperate insubstantially the same manner. However, instead of having the air supplymedia connected directly with the fuel receiving member or bottom R asin the first form of my invention I have furnished a separate air ductmeans for both supporting and supplying the air supply media withatmospheric air. I may utilize several air ducts 36, some of whichsupport and supply a plurality of tubes with a supply of air. The airducts 36 may be conveniently mounted within openings through both theinner shell 11 and outer shell of my stove structure. The fuel receivingmember R in the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 constitutes a pan orremovable clean-out tray 37 which forms the bottom of the burner casingor housing of combustion chamber H. Tray or bottom 37 can thus beremoved by means of handle 38 whenever a sufficient accumulation ofsludge, metal filings and ineombustible material has become depositedupon the surface thereof.

In the operation of my liquid fuel burner the fuel is conducted bygravity or otherwise through supply line 31 to controlling member 32which regulates the rate of flow into the fuel distributing andvaporizing member V. The top 12 covering the hot air duct 14 may beremoved and a preheating material such as newspaper or wood shavings maybe lighted and thrown down the duct 14. The oil or liquid fuel enteringthe fuel distributing and vaporizing member will run out the openunrestricted discharge 35 and spread upon the fuel receiving member 19.After the preliminary burning has taken place so as to heat the interiorof combustion chamber C and the housing walls 11 at the combustionchamber, the conduit 30 will then begin to heat to a point where thefuel supply will distill as it progresses along the bottom of theconduit 30. As a consequence, the lighter ends or more easilyvolatilized constituents of the liquid fuel will vaporize and risethrough the openings 34 into contact with the atmosphere of thecombustion chamber. The residue of the liquid fuel will progress to theend of conduit 30 and drip from the unrestricted discharge 35 on to thebottom of the combustion chamber which constitutes a fuel receivingmember, since the area of the surface of the fuel receiving member 19 isconsiderably greater than the surface area of the fuel distributing andvaporizing member much more of it is subjectedto heat radiation 4 fromthe intense flames above. Thus the more diflicultly distilled productswhich have dripped to the bottom of the chamber will be volatilizedunder this intense heat radiation and contribute to the combustiblevapors available for burning. It is obvious, of course, that some of theconstituents in the residue will be completely incombustible. There is acertain amount of sludge such as is present in the drainings from thecrank case of automobiles which contains steel particles, carbon anddirt. Other waste oil products such as may be found in garages andfilling stations may have products such as grease which contains soapand other ditficultly combustible materials. On the other hand theseWaste oil products may contain such volatile constituents as gasolineand ether which may have been used in relatively smaller quantities forcleaning purposes. With such a wide variety of materials ranging fromdifiicultly combustible substances to explosive substances I have foundthat my liquid fuel burner has accomplished an extremely efficientburning of the "fuel over its entire range of volatility. As thecombustible vapors rise in the chamber C air is drawn through the supplytubes 21 and 22 and is discharged through the restricted openings 23 and24. An incomplete combustion is first obtained from the air beingdischarged through the restricted openings 23. The flaming vapors arethen spread from beneath the flame spreaders 25 and are againcongregated above the tops of the flame spreaders. The air beingdischarged from the larger openings 24 again mixes with the incompletelyburned vapors so as to supply oxygen for the complete combustionthereof. This is done by a second spreading of the flames after havingbeen first congregated and supplied with secondary combustion air.Following the second spreading the combustion products are dischargedthrough the hot air duct 14 and are reversely drawn against the casing11 at the heat-exchange portion thereof and finally discharged throughchimney element 15.

Since the fuel distributing and vaporizing member V is primarily adistillation apparatus within the combustion chamber there will be aslow accumulation of incombustible material along the bottom of theconduit portion. Whenever the accumulation becomes serious enough tointerfere with the operation of my burner I can merely remove the plugelement 33 and clean conduit 30 by such means as a cleaning rod or tool.The scrappings or sludge removed therefrom will fall from theunrestricted discharge 35 and accumulate upon the surface of the fuelreceiving bottom member which likewise will accumulate sludge andincombustibles over a much longer period of time. When the incombustiblematerial becomes deep enough to approach the fuel distributing andvaporizing member V or so that fuel will overflow the upstanding flanges20 then the burner may be disassembled by removing the annular plate 13,the fuel distributing and vaporizing member V and finally the fuelreceiving bottom 19 together with its air supply media disposed thereon.After cleaning, the burner may be reassembled for another long andtrouble-free operation.

In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 it is, of course, only necessary toclean the conduit. 30 when desired and to allow the accumulatedincombustibles to lie upon the pan or tray 37 until it is desired toremove the accumula tion, at which time it is merely necessary to pullout the tray and scrape ofi or otherwise eliminate the material from thebottom thereof.

It may thus be seen that I have accomplished a highly eflicient andsimple method and apparatus for burning waste oil containingineombustibles and a wide range of volatile substances in a manner suchas to be economical, both from the standpoint of first cost, as well asof operating cost and maintenance.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. A burner for liquid fuel such as waste oil products and crudehydrocarbons having in combination a burner housing, a combinedvaporizing and fuel-distributing conduit having a restricted deliveryarea in a portion thereof for discharge of vapors from the more volatilefuel products and having a substantially unrestricted discharge, a fuelreceiving and vaporizing member disposed below the unrestricteddischarge of said conduit, 21 first air supply tube having a restrictedair discharge area adjacent the outer end thereof disposed inunobstructed spaced relation to said fuel receiving member, a second airsupply tube disposed in spaced relation to said fuel receiving memberand having a restricted air discharge area adjacent the outer endthereof, said outer end of the second air supply tube extending beyondthe outward end of said first air supply tube, and means cooperatingwith the outward ends of each said first and second air supply tubes forspreading and mixing flames and vapors.

2, A burner for liquid fuel such as waste oil products and crudehydrocarbons having in combination a burner housing, a combinedvaporizing and fuel-distributing conduit for preliminary vaporization ofthe light ends of said fuel and delivery of the heavier ends from anunrestricted opening therein, a fuel receiving and vaporizing memberhaving an area disposed horizontally below the outlet of said conduit,first tubular air supply means communicating with atmospheric airthrough the wall of said burner housing and having a restricted airdischarge with- 6 in the space defined by said burner housing, saidfirst tubular air supply means having means above the restricted airdischarge for spreading and mixing air with burning gases insubstantially unobstructed clearance with the fuel receiving andvaporizing member, second tubular air supply means also communicatingwith atmospheric air through the wall of said burner housing and havinga restricted air discharge within the space defined by the housingdisposed upwardly beyond said first tubular means, said second tubularmeans having spreading and mixing means overlying its restricteddischarge for additional oxidation of burning gases directed andrecombined from said first spreading and mixing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,702,929 Breese Feb. 19, 1929 1,885,674 Beadle Nov. 1, 1932 1,933,044Cannon Oct. 31, 1933 2,184,653 Sherrick et al. Dec. 26, 1939 2,257,834Behee Oct. 7, 1941 2,292,339 Mayo Aug. 4, 1942 2,333,815 Petsel Nov. 9,1943 2,367,460 Dekker Jan. 16, 1945 2,373,310 Hayter Apr. 10, 19452,501,116 White et a1. Mar. 21, 1950 2,511,932 McKenzie et al. June 20,1950 2,671,505 Dekker Mar. 9, 1954

